TRP: Hansel and Larkin (Beach Bros)
Day 268 "Hey. Hansel." Larkin nudged his foot with hers. "Can we talk?" IZZY: Hansel twitched awake. He'd only been dozing, arms crossed and head bent, and automatically gripped the handle of one axe before he registered that it was Larkin and just blinked up at her, disoriented. "Fuckin' ... what. What's up." JEN "Goro." She glanced around but the fool was nowhere to be seen. He'd been a sulky little shit when she'd tried to talk to him, then scampered off. IZZY: Hansel straightened a bit and followed her eyeline. "Where is he?" JEN Larkin waved down the beach. "Somewhere. It's nothing... bad, just...he won't fucking talk to me." She kicked the sand, then winced when it hit Hansel. IZZY: "Oh." Hansel grimaced, but relaxed. "Yeah, y'know, he's ... havin' a hard time. Fuckin' found him hiding in a tree last night, had to coax him out." He let go of his axe to brush some sand off. "Amari, and the shit with the Leech, and all." JEN "Yeah, I know." Larkin kicked more sand, in another direction this time. She sighed and sat down in place, then continued to harass the sand with her hands. "Something fucking happened with him and Azriel. He doesn't want to tell me about it. Do you know what's up?" IZZY: He shifted uncomfortably. Felt like he shouldn't be telling Larkin Goro's business. Especially if Goro wasn't telling her, either. But it was fuckin' Larkin, and he was pretty fucking sure Goro was being wrongheaded about this whole thing. "He said, uh. Dunno. Nothin' specific. Said he thanked Azriel for savin' Theo, and Azriel treated him like shit." He could hear the fancy little tiefling fuck tuning his viol some ways off. Had to admit it sounded really nice. Fucker, though. "Think he just thinks you're gonna take Azriel's side, whatever it was," he admitted. "Don't tell him I said so. Prob'ly counts as snitchin'." JEN Larkin grumbled wordlessly. Yeah, that sounded like fucking Goro. He should know better than that but of course he assumed everyone was against him. Potentially. If Hansel was right. "Anyway, can you, uh... can you tell him I'm not? Taking any fucking sides, I mean. If you talk about it." IZZY: "Fuckin' told him he was wrong," Hansel grumbled. "Didn't fuckin' listen." JEN "Ugh, yeah. Yeah, why would he." IZZY: Hansel grunted. Wasn't that the fuckin' truth. Not that he could say shit, either -- wasn't too great at listening, himself, until he didn't have any goddamn options. Hmm. "What if," he said, "I just fuckin' picked him up, and held him there, and made him listen to you." JEN She snickered. "Man, that'd be great. I'd love that." IZZY: Hansel nodded, pleased. Yeah. Good fuckin' plan. Maybe later on, when they'd gotten Amari back and Goro was calmer. "The fuck is your boyfriend's deal, anyway?" he asked mildly. "Bein' shitty to Goro. Fucker." JEN "Hey, Azriel said Goro was shitty to him first," Larkin said, then paused and grinned. "If you can believe him." IZZY: "Hmm." Hansel narrowed his eyes. He could. God knew Goro could be a prickly bastard. But he hadn't been fuckin' lying, either, and Hansel didn't trust Azriel as far as he could throw him. Granted, that'd be pretty far. He shrugged. JEN "Yeah. I mean, same." She picked up a stone, turned it in her hand, then hurled it at a nearby tree trunk. It connected with a hollow tok. Felt bad talking about Azriel like this. Behind his back. Felt a bit like betrayal, like she was putting her noses into business it didn't belong. Which was ridiculous. Putting her nose into other people's shit was her job. Metaphorically. She decided to change topics. "I talked to Goro about the wand. About Azrael. Think I might've gotten through a bit." IZZY: He grunted. "Yeah, tried that, too. Ehh." He was pretty fucking sure all he'd really done was make Goro feel bad for upsetting him, which ... wasn't the point. "Guess it doesn't much matter now. Hasn't got the damn thing anymore." He squinted. Still wasn't clear in that whole Mask thing. He thought about what Goro had said, last night. Like he felt ashamed just for surviving, guilty just for making it this far. He wanted to tell Larkin, so she could help Goro with it, too, but it was too fuckin' personal. Felt bad, though, not being able to get more people talking sense into Goro's ear without betraying his trust. JEN "Yeah, sure, but I mean... fuck, Hansel. He thinks we're gonna leave him. Sooner or later. Like, what the fuck." IZZY: "Fuck, I know." He leaned in a bit. Goddamn, it was weirdly a relief to hears someone else be fuckin' incredulous about it. He wasn't out of his mind -- it really was objectively fucking absurd. "Fuckin' -- I mean, I get it, with fuckin' Jasmilia abandoning him, and shit, but god. You just wanna fucking ..." He gestured like he was tearing a piece of bread in two, or something. "Crack his head open and yank that shit out and fix it, somehow, yeah?" JEN Larkin scoffed and flung another stone at the tree. "Don't say that too loud, he might just go for it. Ah, fuck." She winced. Shouldn't say shit like that. "Anyway. We just gotta keep going I guess. Keep hanging on." IZZY God, she had a fuckin' point. He grunted. "S'pose." Fucking worrisome thing, though. "He ... tell you what he talked to Mask about?" More a way of edging into it than really asking -- figured there was no way Goro hadn't told her. JEN "Well, he said Mask said hi." IZZY Hansel snorted. "Fucksake." He shook his head a bit and looked down, then back up, scratcing his beard. "Said he asked Mask how to kill Gruumsh, 'cause, y'know. And Mask didn't tell him, said it was more important to kill Rexarius, over in Calimport." He paused. Larkin'd know, and she didn't have any reason to bullshit him. "You think Mask gives a shit about an orc who don't worship him, anyway?" JEN What the fuck. Sounded fucking wild, but, also, like something that'd happen to Goro. And Hansel wouldn't make shit like that up, would he? Larkin made a gesture of what-the-fuck-do-I-know. "Seems to be caring 'bout Goro enough. Maybe he gives a shit for his sake?" IZZY "Hmm." Something like that. Hansel's gut told him maybe Mask didn't care about Goro that much, either, and just want to use him for somethin', but Hansel's gut was wrong about as often as it was right. He scratched at his beard again, then smoothed it out. "Maybe so, yeah." It was just paranoia, probably. Hansel didn't fuckin' trust gods a bit. The feeling that Mask just wanted Goro to do shit for him on the mortal plane, like Gruumsh just wanted an avatar, and Hansel might as well be a fuckin' ant -- probably not that fair to Mask. Wasn't a deity like Eldath, but he wasn't an evil bastard like Gruumsh, either. Was just that Hansel'd just had a reminder of what Gruumsh would do to him, and hearing Mask tell Goro nah, not important -- made him nervous as shit. He didn't say that, though. Shrugged, instead, and set it aside. He wanted to kill the dragon, too. It'd be fine. He shrugged. "Fuckin' gods, anyway, eh," he said absently, because that was the kinda shit he said, then realized Larkin might be about as devout as Goro was, or something. JEN "Yeah, I don't know man." Larkin had no idea what gods wanted or what they cared for. As far as she was concerned, the one most likely to give a shit about her was Mask, and if she couldn't even believe he was going to help his followers for their worship... well, what fucking good was believing then anyway. As last so far it'd felt like Mask had had a good eye on her. She was still alive and healthy, after all. "Maybe it's... something like, a fucking greater plan or whatever. Or a test. Kill the dragon and earn the god's favour or something like that." IZZU He grumbled. "Fuckin' gods." JEN Larkin could only shrug to that. He had a point but- wasn't like anyone could claim those fuckin' gods weren't a real fucking threat. Better to keep the few non-murderous ones on their side. IZZY Hm. Same page. Hansel didn't have much else to say about it, he supposed -- he slipped an axe off his belt and his whetstone from his pocket to idly sharpen the already-keen blade, content to just quietly enjoy Larkin being around, for a bit. JEN Larkin settled into a more comfortable position. She continued playing with the stones in the sand, tossing them at various targets. Thinking about what Hansel had said about Mask- that dragon- but not getting anywhere. Every option was a bad option somehow. They could ignore the vision, and risk Mask getting angry at them as well as potentially declining his help by accident. Or they could take the fucking hint and go rip that dragon a new one. Risk getting killed over some god's personal feud. It all just sucked. "Y'know what I miss?" She said after a while. IZZY Hansel kept sharpening his axe, testing the edge with his thumb. "What's that?" JEN "The Grumpy Sausage. Shame the place blew up." IZZY "Mm." Hansel paused a moment, nodded, staring off into space. "You ever have the stew? Damn shady fuckin' stew. Swear to god I found a fingernail in a bowl one time. Good shit, though." JEN "Man, the stew was the best part of it. Patrons could fuck right off, but..." She sighed. "Stew was good." IZZY He snorted. "Y'know, when I was a fuckin' bouncer there, I took a break in the kitchen this one time." Wasn't so much a break as he'd had to drag himself somewhere more private to cry for a bit, but those were different times. Anyway. "Fuckin' cook had, uh." He held his hands up to demonstrate. "'Bout three goddamn finger all total. Goddamn worrying." JEN "God." Larkin snorted and shook herself, disgusted. "How long'd it take you to notice anyway?" IZZY "Longer'n it fuckin' shoulda," he admitted. JEN "It's still a ruin isn't it? They should do something with the place." Maybe not just anyone even. Maybe Larkin could get Finch to buy the lot. Raise up a new inn and use it as a landmark to their territory. IZZY He grunted. "Think I heard the guy who owns the Crooked Coin bought up the lot t'keep it from gettin' reestablished and bein' competition for him, again." JEN "Oh, Tazu? Hm." Tazu was a business man. He could be dealt with. In coins or favours, or whatever. That wasn't too bad. Larkin could work with that. IZZY Hansel eyed her. He knew what she was about. "Could fuckin' rough him up, or somethin'." JEN "Eh." She waved it off. "Don't think that'll be necessary. Thanks for the offer though," she said, grinning. IZZY He grinned back. "Standing offer." JEN Larkin gave a thumbs up. That was all she had, though, so she lapsed back into contented silence. Sitting with Hansel like this was nice. No bullshit. Just them and the noise of a whetstone. After a minute, she got up and relocated herself to the tree trunk Hansel was leaning to, to sit down at and angle to him and idly watch the stretch of beach she could see from there. IZZY Hansel swapped out one axe for the other, and kept sharpening. After a little bit, he asked, "How's it goin' with, y'know, crime and shit in Skyport, anyway?" JEN "Crime and shit." She laughed a little. "It's good. Crime and shit. Not as good as before, but... could be worse. We're getting the docks back slowly." IZZY "S'good," he said, pleased. "Uh, Jonn ain't givin' you any trouble or anything, right?" JEN "Uh... no." Larkin found a stick to poke into the dirty sand. "He's doing good actually. One of our best." Didn't say that much because they didn't have that many contenders, but as much as Larkin disliked the guy, she had to admit he was very fucking useful. IZZY He nodded. "And shit's all right with you and Finch now, yeah?" He didn't really know the situation with those two, but he knew it'd been bad, before. "You fuckin' trust him?" JEN "Yeah? I mean- he's the one who's got more reasons not to trust me. Since back then and shit." Larkin shrugged. If she was being honest, she'd never considered Finch might not be trustworthy. Had just... fucking assumed. Too glad things seemed to be back to how they used to be. IZZY He grunted. "Just checkin'." Kept sharpening the axe. "Y'know, uh. Before I had the whole story, and shit, Jonn used to tell me about the guy, and how he was always drunk and always talking shit about his ex-partner. Just seemed like an unpleasant fuckin' person. He decides to cause any goddamn trouble for you, I'm just sayin'. Same offer." He held the axe up the study the edge in the light. JEN Larkin gave Hansel a side-glance, then bumped his shoulder with a fist, smiling. "Fuck, though," she said. "Jonn's right on the drinking part. Gotta do something about that. Hasn't always been like this, y'know. Before." IZZY "Hmm." He tucked his axe away and pulled the silver trident off his back -- the one with the blackberry sprig tied around it -- and started sharpening the tines. "Might just need some time. I stopped drinkin' so much after I joined the Runners. Took a bit, though." He snorted. "Was gonna say maybe he needs a couple friends, but y'know -- when we were all at Mishka's estate, before we headed out for Moorland -- don't think I ever saw the fucker's face. Real evasive, eh." JEN "Yeah, that's him." Finch had never been one for socializing. Even back when they first started spending time together, before all the shit that'd happened to him over the years. Larkin had never known if he'd counted his old gang as friends, the one he sold out to Renar. Hoped not, because that meant Finch might do the same to Larkin and Jonn. Not that she truly believed that would happen...still, a bad thought. "We used to have more friends," Larkin said. "Finch and me. Most of 'em kicked the bucket, though." She sighed heavily and sent a short prayer for them. Fannigan and Brunos. Neega. And Sabac, though that one motherfucker contiued to stay alive, somehow. IZZY Hansel nodded. Knew what the fuck that was like, for goddamn sure. He'd managed to rebuild a little family, though -- well, hadn't so much built it as found it piece by piece and managed to hold onto it, so far. Been real fuckin' resistant to the idea for a while there. It'd been Roddy that wore him down, mostly. "I, uh." He hesitated. "Know I just was talkin' shit, but if you wanted to bring him around, see if he could get along." He nodded and gestured vaguely with his whetstone to the Runners scattered around them. "We're pretty fuckin' good at stayin' alive, seems like. Might be all right." JEN Larkin laughed. God, the image of Finch on an adventure. He'd be turning away monsters with his scowl alone. "Maybe. I can ask him, but... yeah, he's not the type for family gatherings and shit. Not like I can fucking make him go out if his bunker either. " IZZY He snorted. "Y'know, when Jonn said he lived in a fucking bunker, I thought he was joking." JEN "Oh no. It's real. Fucking shit hole of a bunker, too, but try goin' around telling Finch that." IZZY "Are there, fuckin' ... nice bunkers out there?" Hansel wondered. JEN Larkin huffed. "Maybe if you put some flowers in?" IZZY Hansel snickered. He eyed the edged on the silver trident, pleased, and swapped it out for the clockwork one. "Why's he live in a fuckin' bunker, anyhow." JEN "Well, it's save." She shrugged. "No windows to break in and it's all stone. Can't burn it down either. And I guess he doesn't like the sunlight." IZZY "Huh." Sounded like Mishka's panic room, 'cept that he supposed Finch couldn't teleport, so there had to be a door. He shrugged. "Guess that makes sense, yeah. Probably gets fuckin' cold, though, eh." He was already working it out in his head. "Guess he's got some kinda ... extended chimney for his furnace, to throw folks off the trail." JEN "Yeah, he, uh... " Larkin winced. "He's got no furnace. Only blankets and fucking-" she broke off, remembering who she was talking to. "Uhm. That. And Booze." IZZY Hansel squinted at her for a second. Weird. Went back to sharpening his trident, though. "Oughta tell him booze don't actually warm you up. Makes you freeze faster, someone told me. Just makes you think you're warm, like when, uh." He didn't know if city folk knew about this thing, actually. "Y'know, you get so cold that you start thinking you're hot? That kinda thing." JEN "That sounds like bullshit," Larkin said. She craned her neck around to look at Hansel but he didn't seem to be kidding. Not that she'd know what that would look like anyway. IZZY "Nah, swear it." He nodded without looking up. "Happened to me once, when I fell in this frozen lake. Woulda swore I was dyin' of heat. Strangest goddamn thing. Like a fever or something. Y'know, you get real drunk and you get hot spells? S'like that, maybe." He gestured with his whetstone. Yeah, he didn't know what the fuck he was talking about. JEN "Uhh. I think I always black out before that stage. Fuck, though." She chuckled and hid her face behind her hand. "Been a while since I got good 'n wasted. We gotta do that some time again, yeah?" IZZY He grinned at her. "Last time didn't go so well, but I'm always down." JEN "Next time we'll have a plan." END Category:Text Roleplay